OM! PHILOSOPHY | METAPHYSICS & EPISTEMOLOGY | All the major steps of science in the past were done by people who were very aware of methodological , fundamental , even Metaphysical questions being posed . When Heisenberg does quantum mechanics , Heisenberg is in a completely Philosophical mind . ~ Carlo Rovelli

PHILOSOPHY

|| PROOF || There cannot be more than one substance having the same attribute ( P5 ) , and existence belongs to the nature of substance ( P7 ) .

It must therefore exist either as finite or as infinite .

But it cannot exist as finite , for ( D2 ) it would have to be limited by another substance of the same nature , and that substance also would have to exist ( P7 ) .

And so there would exist two substances of the same attribute , which is absurd ( P5 ) .

Therefore , it exists as infinite .

|| SCHOL 1 || Since in fact to be finite is in part a negation and to be infinite is the unqualified affirmation of the existence of some nature , it follows from P7 alone that every substance must be infinite .

|| SCHOL 2 || I do not doubt that for those who judge things confusedly and are not accustomed to know things through their primary causes it is difficult to grasp the proof of P7 .

Surely , this is because they neither distinguish between the modification of substances and substances themselves , nor do they know how things are produced .

And so it comes about that they ascribe to substances a beginning which they see natural things as having ; for those who do not know the true causes of things confuse everything .

Without any hesitation they imagine trees as well as humans talking and stones as well as humans being formed from seeds ; indeed , any forms whatsoever are imagined to change into any other forms .

So too , those who confuse the divine nature with human nature easily ascribe to GOD human emotions , especially so long as they are ignorant of how the latter are produced in the mind .

But if they were to attend to the nature of substance , they would not doubt at all the truth of P7 ; indeed , this Proposition would be an axiom to all and would be ranked among universally accepted truisms .

For by substance they would understand that which is in itself and is conceived through itself ; that is , that the knowledge of which does not require the knowledge of any other thing .

By modifications they would understand that which is in another thing , and whose conception is formed from the thing in which they are .

Therefore , in the case of nonexistent modifications we can have true ideas of them since their essence is included in something else , with the result that they can be conceived through that something else , although they do not exist in actuality externally to the intellect .

However , in the case of substances , because they are conceived only through themselves , their truth external to the intellect is only in themselves .

So if someone were to say that one has a clear and distinct — that is , a true — idea of substance and that one nevertheless doubts whether such a substance exists , this would surely be just the same as if one were to declare that one has a true idea but nevertheless suspects that it may be false ( as is obvious to anyone who gives one's mind to it ) .

Or if anyone asserts that substance is created , one at the same time asserts that a false idea has become true , than which nothing more absurd can be conceived .

So it must necessarily be admitted that the existence of substance is as much an eternal truth as is its essence .

From here we can derive in another way that there cannot be but one ( substance ) of the same nature , and I think it worthwhile to set out the proof here .

Now to do this in an orderly fashion I ask you to NOTE :

|| N1 || The true definition of each thing involves and expresses nothing beyond the nature of the thing defined . Hence it follows that —

|| N2 || No definition involves or expresses a fixed number of individuals , since it expresses nothing but the nature of the thing defined . For example , the definition of a triangle expresses nothing other than simply the nature of a triangle , and not a fixed number of triangles .

|| N3 || For each individual existent thing there must necessarily be a definite cause for its existence .

|| N4 || The cause for the existence of a thing must either be contained in the very nature and definition of the existent thing ( in effect , existence belongs to its nature ) or must have its being independently of the thing itself .

From these premises it follows that if a fixed number of individuals exist in Nature , there must necessarily be a cause why those individuals and not more or fewer exist .

If , for example , in Nature twenty humans were to exist ( for the sake of greater clarity I suppose that they exist simultaneously and that no others existed in Nature before them ) , in order to account for the existence of these twenty humans , it will not be enough for us to demonstrate the cause of human nature in general ; it will furthermore be necessary to demonstrate the cause why not more or fewer than twenty humans exist , since ( N3 ) there must necessarily be a cause for the existence of each one .

But this cause ( N2 N3 ) cannot be contained in the nature of human , since the true definition of human does not involve the number twenty .

So ( N4 ) the cause of the existence of these twenty humans , and consequently of each one , must necessarily be external to each one , and therefore we can reach the unqualified conclusion that whenever several individuals of a kind exist , there must necessarily be an external cause for their existence .

Now since existence belongs to the nature of substance ( as has already been shown in this Scholium ) the definition of substance must involve necessary existence , and consequently the existence of substance must be concluded solely from its definition .

But the existence of several substances cannot follow from the definition of substance ( as I have already shown in N2 N3 ) .

Therefore , from the definition of substance it follows necessarily that there exists only one substance of the same nature , as was proposed .

|| P9 || The more reality or being a thing has , the more attributes it has .

THE concept of the atom goes back much further than the beginning of modern science in the seventeenth century ; it has its origin in ancient Greek philosophy and was in that early period the central concept of materialism . . .

If it becomes desirable to formulate any cognition as science , it will be necessary first to determine accurately those peculiar features which no other science has in common with it , constituting its characteristics ; otherwise the boundaries of all sciences ; otherwise . . .

Philosophy being nothing else but the study of wisdom and truth , it may with reason be expected , that those who have spent the most time and pains in it should enjoy a greater calm and serenity of mind . . .

It is customary to preface a work with an explanation of the author's aim , why one wrote the book , and the relationship in which one believes it to stand to other earlier or contemporary treatises on the same subject . In the case of a philosophical work , however . . .

|| PART I | CONCERNING GOD || DEFINITIONS || D1 | By that which is self-caused , I mean that whose essence involves existence ; or that whose nature can be conceived only as existing . | D2 | A thing is said to be finite in its own kind , when . . .

| #1 | The world is everything that is the case . | 1.1 | The world is the totality of facts , not of things . | 1.11 | The world is determined by the facts , and by these being all the facts . | 1.12 | For the totality of facts determines what is the case , and also all that . . .

" Hammer on ! hammer on ! " is the first principle of success . Without work you can never succeed . A lazy person is bound to perish in the " struggle for existence " , one cannot live , one must die .

Rise to the GOD-Consciousness to such a degree that for you your past relations may become a complete blank . . . Your relation to the world should become the relation of GOD to the world ; an entire change .

From one point of view , mind and intellect are not Brahman ; but on the other hand , mind and intellect are nothing else but Brahman , even the body is nothing else but Brahman , and Everything in the world is nothing else but Brahman .

Can you transfer your consciousness ? Put it here , your consciousness should sit here . Can it sit here ? Now it is inside your body . It is operating through the body and you are seeing through the aperture of your eyes and then perceiving a person like me here .

Immanuel Kant is said to have been woken up by Hume from " dogmatic slumber " and brought about a " Copernican revolution " in the field of philosophy . In Kant we begin to reap the ripe fruits of philosophy , for it is here that it shows signs of its having reached maturity and full development .

SWAMI-KRISHNANANDA.ORGWelcome to the website of Swami Krishnananda . Here you will find eBooks and articles as well as audios and videos on yoga , meditation , philosophy , scriptural texts and related subjects .

PRABODHASUDHAKARA | THE NECTAR OCEAN OF ENLIGHTENMENT | PART 2 | DEVOTION | SRI ADI SANKARACARYA | TRANSLATION & BHASYA BY SAMVID | PSNOE SERIES || The devotional fervour which the author exhibits in the four concluding sections of this work would appear to be in sharp contrast with the author's relentless pursuit of truth through rational enquiry , found in the earlier sections .

I am composing the Atmabodha , or Self-Knowledge , to serve the needs of those who have been purified through the practice of austerities, and who are peaceful in heart , free from cravings , and desirous of Liberation .

One who has one's mind Self-absorbed through Yoga , and who has the vision of sameness everywhere , sees this Self existing in everything , and everything in one's Self . | One who sees Me in everything , and sees all things in Me — I do not go out of one's vision , and one also is not lost to My vision .

Some minds with too much self reliance in themselves , and without considering the true nature of things , give them different forms and colours , according to their own conceptions and opinions , though far from truth .

VOL 1 | BOOK II | CHAP XVII | VERSE 10 | ON THE CONTENTS OF THE WORK | IT CONTAINS SIX BOOKS all fraught with sentences full of reason , and each distinct from the other in its import . It has many verses containing chosen examples on all subjects .

DANGEROUS HABIT OF CONSTANT SELF JUSTIFICATION | To go on claiming this so-called freedom , which is no more than a subjection to certain ignorant cosmic forces , is to indulge in a blind contradiction and to claim the right to lead a double life

Imagination in the mind always exaggerates . Exaggeration is a modification of lie . Aspirants should not exaggerate . They should utter words with mathematical and scientific precision . An aspirant is asked to give up company and observe Mouna .

MahaBhava is a Divine Ecstasy . It shakes the body and mind to their very foundation . It is like a huge elephant entering a small hut . The house shakes to its foundation . Perhaps it falls to pieces .

Athato bhaktim vyakhyasyamah | 1. Now , therefore , we shall teach Bhakti , or the Religion of Divine Love . 2. Now , therefore , I will try to explain the process of devotional service . 3. Now , therefore , the doctrine of devotion we shall expound .

Rama has written in simple language , the ordinary thoughts and ideas that satisfy the mind and show the Divine Vision to the writer both within and without . The whole world shining like the diamond is becoming the Divine Ocean .

OM! In Humans , The Past exists only in memory , which is retention , replaying , reconfiguration of stories , fantasies , fiction ; The Future is expectation and fantasy : These thoughts play in The Present , creating a false sense of continuity of personality — Nothing but DREAMING it is .|| SSSV 32.3 ||